The present invention generally relates to semiconductor device manufacturing and semiconductor devices, and more particularly to a method of making gallium nitride (GaN) devices by spalling and the GaN devices made thereby.
Surface layer removal from brittle substrates using controlled spalling technology is a powerful method for changing the cost structure of high-efficiency photovoltaic materials, as well as enabling new features in a range of semiconductor technologies (e.g., flexible photovoltaics, flex circuits and displays). This technology uses application of a tensile stressor layer on the surface of a base substrate to be spalled. The tensile stressor layer has a combined thickness and stress that is sufficient to induce spalling mode fracture in the base substrate.
Handling layers that are applied to the surface of the stressor/substrate combination are then used to control the initiation and fracture propagation (spalling) leading to the removal of continuous surface layers from the base substrate.
Spalling offers a low cost, simple approach for removing many thin semiconductor layers from a comparatively expensive thick base substrate of many different semiconductor materials. The thin layers of semiconductor material can then be used for semiconductor device manufacture. This method enables the low cost manufacture of novel thin layers of semiconductor materials that have not previously been available for device manufacture in this form. These newly available thin layers of semiconductor materials require new processes for the manufacture of semiconductor devices from them.
The method described herein advantageously provides a method for the manufacture of GaN devices from a thin layer of spalled GaN, particularly novel GaN devices comprising an insulating GaN layer formed from the spalled GaN. The method also includes a method a forming the GaN insulating layer.